lEx  Htbrtfi 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  hook 

Because  it  has  heen  said 
,l Ever  thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
(in  i  01  Si  ymour  B.  Dursi  Old  York  Library 


LOUIS  VICTOR: 
HIS  SICKNESS  AN  J)  HIS  CUKE. 


LOUIS  VICTOR  IX  "THE  SHEPHERDS  FOLD"  AND  IN 
"ST.  LUKE'S  HOSPITAL" :  JAN.  23,  1878,  TO  JAN.  30,  1880. 
Carefully  Compiled  from  Original  Records. 


SANITARY  CONDITION— MEDICAL  EEPORTS. 
The  whole  number  of  children  supported  in  the  two  Folds  by  Mr.  Cowley 
from  1867  to  1880,  is  700. 

The  sanitary  condition  has  been  very  satisfactory.  There  have  been  no 
cases  of  diphtheria,  scarlatina,  or  other  epidemic  or  contagious  diseases, 
among  the  children.  The  hygienic  management  has  been  such  that  all  the 
newly-admitted  members  have  improved  in  health  and  physical  appearance, 
in  proportion  to  the  time  they  have  lived  in  the  Fold.  ...  I  always  thought 
they  appeared  well,  and  compared  well  with  the  children  I  met  in  their  own 
homes  among  respectable  people.  I  saw  each  one  cheerful,  cleanly,  and 
neatly  dressed.  They  were  all  trained  to  help  each  other,  and  seemed  to 
take  pleasure  in  doing  it. 

Such  was  the  testimony  of  Dr.  F.  W.  Hunt  for  the  seven  years  before 
Louis  Victor  became  sick.  Yet  in  the  face  of  this  health  record,  two  mem- 
bers of  the  Charity  Board  reported  "overcrowding."  Accordingly  Mr. 
Cowley  requested  a  medical  inspection  by  non-Fold  doctors,  who  reported 
to  the  Tru|tees : 

In  the  course  of  our  examination,  we  have  inspected  every  sleeping-room  ; 
have  noted  the  number  of  beds,  etc. ;  and  have  inquired  specially  into  the 
means  for  ventilation. 

As  the  result  of  our  examination,  we  have  formed  the  opinion  that  the 
building  is  not  at  present  overcrowded ;  but  we  think  that  the  present  num- 
ber of  children  (fifty-one)  is  as  large  as  can  be  properly  accommodated. 

During  the  progress  of  our  inspection,  we  were  gratified  to  observe  the 
healthy  appearance  of  the  children,  and  to  learn  of  the  unusual  exemption 
from  sickness  and  mortality  for  several  years  past. 

Charles  Kxl^ht,  M.D. 
Charles  W.  Packard.  M.D. 

As  a  fact,  but  three  deaths  had  occurred  in  thirteen  years  out  of  700  chil- 
dren :  never  a  case  of  fever  or  contagious  disease;  never  a  serious  accident. 
Louis  Victor  alone  failed  to  reach  the  usual  standard.  When  some  persons, 
for  motives  and  reasons  best  known  to  themselves,  had  insinuated  the  ex- 
istence of  evils  in  the  management,  the  Trustees  appointed  a  Committee  of 
live  to  examine  everything.  That  Committee  of  five  gentlemen  unanimously 
reported  that 

After  a  careful  investigation  of  even-thing  pertaining  to  the  Fold,  inside 
and  out,  we  are  prepared  to  assert  that  not  one  reasonable  complaint  against 
its  management,  or  any  cause  for  lack  of  entire  confidence  in  its  administra- 


2 


tion,  exists,  or  can  be  shown  to  rest  on  fact,  or  upon  any  evidence  worthy  of 
the  least  regard. 

The  house  adjoining  that  in  which  Victor  was  received,  was  the  residence 
of  a  well-to-do  family  of  live  persons,  who  fell  sick,  and  one  of  them  died  of 
diphtheria ;  yet  only  two  Fold  children  were  at  all  affected,  and  but  for  a 
short  time,  caused  by  the  bursting  of  sewer-pipes  in  the  cellar. 

FOOD  SUPPLIES  DURING  LAST  TWO  YEARS. 

Of  bread,  the  baker  Schneider  swore  that  the  average  for  1878-9  was  about 
ten  loaves  a  day — the  last  three  months  the  weight  was  one  pound  and  three- 
quarters  a  loaf,  before  it  was  two  pounds ;  that  he  was  directed  to  leave  all 
they  needed  (folios  938-910) ;  sometimes  saw  the  children  at  their  breakfast — 
they  looked  very  good;  they  had  bread  enough — it  was  made  of  the  best 
quality  of  wheat  and  rye  flour,  half  of  each ;  supplied  $425  worth  of  bread 
(folios  942-957).  John  Merkl  supplied  $195.74  worth;  H.  H.  Ritterbusch 
about  $80  worth;  donations  of  bread,  $20  worth.  Total  of  bread,  $720.74; 
and  much  of  it  being  "left-over"  bread,  the  average  cost  was  but  six  cents 
a  loaf,  showing  more  than  12,000  loaves  of  bread. 

Other  provisions :  400  pounds  of  rice,  clearly  proven.  Median's  bill  for 
meats,  $87. G2;  other  meats  and  provisions  cost  $191.40.  Seven  donations  of 
fresh  fish  for  all," each  supply  enough  for  dinners  twice,  given  by  Carman, 
Middleton  &  Company  (folio  1108);  also  a  quintal  of  salt  fish  and  a  box 
of  boned  codfish  (folio  1107).  At  one  time  sixty  pounds  of  mutton  and 
six  large  chickens  from  Mrs.  Murray;  again  a  hundred  pounds  of  meat 
and  poultry  from  the  same  lady.  From  Mrs.  Meehan,  four  ducks  and 
two  chickens.  Duryea  &  Co.,  twenty  pounds  of  corn-starch  ;  also  on  July  2, 
1879,  twenty  pounds  of  corn-starch,  Twd  dozen  fresh  eggs  from  a  friend  ; 
Baker's  cocoa,  twelve  p6unds;  also  July  30,  1879,  twelve  pounds  cocoa.  The 
St.  Louis  Packing  Co.,  thirteen  cans  of  corned  beef;  also  Oct.  14th,  1879, 
twelve  cans  of  corned  beef.  Brinkerhoff  &  Co.,  Aug.  1,  1879,  one  barrel  of 
soda  crackers  ;  also  large  box  of  assorted  crackers  and  one  box  of  oatmeal 
crackers.  Mr.  Harris,  one  barrel  of  soda  crackers.  Next  in  time  that 
famous  chicken,  &c,  from  Miss  Callahan,  "which  Louis  had  all  to  himself." 
Then  in  November,  1879,  the  mutton,  fresh  pork,  corned  pork,  beef,  &C-, 
from  Mrs.  Murray,  so  thoroughly  dissected  and  distributed  by  Mr.  Phelps 
and  Fanny  McCurdy.  Codfish  and  potatoes  were  the  ordered  and  regular 
dinner  for  every  Friday — not  called  meat  or  vegetables  ;  some  meat,  ham  or 
salt  pork,  was  supplied  with  every  dinner  of  beans  and  peas.  Tomato  soup 
was  frequent  in  the  season  ;  meat  soup  and  sundry  vegetables,  simply  called 
soup.  Nor  were  clam-chowders  unknown.  And  Mrs.  Cowley  used  those 
forty  pounds  of  corn-starch  largely  in  preparing  "ice  cream  and  custard 
puddings"  for  those  children  who  had  "forgotten"  or  "didn't  remember." 
No  witness  for  the  prosecution  "remembered"  the  cocoa;  yet  the  proof  of 
twenty-four  pounds  of  Baker's  cocoa  is  indisputable.  At  half  a  pound  each 
time,  it  would  give  cocoa  forty-eight  times — an  excellent  substitute  for  milk. 
The  two  barrels  of  syrup  and  molasses,  and  that  furnished  by  Ritterbusch 
in  current  account,  also  supplied  the  place  of  milk.  The  seemingly  small 
quantity  of  condensed  milk  was  the  same  in  proportion  as  that  furnished 


3 


other  institutions  for  children.  The  lady  in  charge  says  their  Fold  cat  never 
would  drink  the  liquid  milk  bought  at  the  grocer's.  Several  of  the  children 
had  coffee  for  breakfast,  and  a  fifty-pound  chest  of  tea  was  used  at  lunch 
and  supper. 

From  April,  1878,  to  Oct.  29,  1879,  the  bills  of  C.  W.  Peek  &  Co.  amounted 
to  $70.60,  representing  two  barrels  of  marrowfat  beans,  three  barrels  of  split 
peas,  two  barrels  of  farina,  one  barrel  of  pearl  barley,  three  barrels  of  hom- 
iny, and  four  barrels  of  Indian  meal,  or  about  3000  pounds  of  such  food.  It 
sustains  the  sworn  statement — "always  four  different  kinds  of  cereals" 
(f.  1231).  Then  Thurber's  bill  was  twice  that  of  Peek's,  and  Ritterbusch's 
was  more  than  both  ol  them,  or  $132.10;  so  his  affidavit  and  the  following 
official  statement  of  supplies,  amply  prove : 

Statement  of  Committee  of  Audit  of  the  Shepherd's  Fold,  upon  examina- 
tion of  the  vouchers  and  unpaid  bills  from  Jan.  1st,  1878,  to  Jan.  17th,  1881' — 
Estimate  of  H.  K.  &  F.  B.  Thurber's  bill  for  said  1878    -    -  $100.00 
William  Schneider's  bill  of  bread,  as  sworn  to  in  court  -   -  425.00 
John  Merkl's  bill  for  bread,  as  per  day-book  and  affidavit    -  195.71 
H.  H.  Ritterbusch,  as  per  pass-book  fortwo  years  and  affidavit  432.10 
Value  of  donations  of  groceries  and  provisions  -----  87.62 

Thomas  F.  Potter,  butter  and  eggs,  May  6,  1878,  to  Oct.  28    -  24.30 
J.  C.  Clark,  groceries,  pass-book,  May,  1878   ------  15.82 

C.  W.  Peek,  April  11,  1878,  to  Oct.  29,  1879     ------  55.15 


D.  Scott,  fish  bills     -    -   12.13 

William  Atkinson,  fish  bill    ------   4.86 

Mrs.  J.  T.  Meehan,  meats  -   87.05 

J.  W.  Lang,  baker  -----  3.07 

G.C.Chase  &  Co.,  tea   13.50 


Thurber  &  Co.,  Sept.  10,  1879,  to  Jan.  3,  1880  ------  26.76 

D.  Talmage  &  Sons,  310  pounds  of  rice  -  20.00 

Tsheppe  &  Schur  and  others,  medicines      -    -   2S.20 

Other  meats  and  provisions,  b37  cash  payments   191.40 

Condensed  milk  during  1878  and  1879,  730  quarts  at  28  cents  204.40 

Total  cost  of  food  during  two  years    ------  $1927.10 

the  larger  portion  of  which  at  wholesale  prices. 
Similar  report  to  the  above  was  made  to  Bishop  Potters  Committee  of 
Inquiry  in^March,  1881.  [Attest]       Charlotte  S.  Thomas. 

The  number  of  children  averaged  twenty-five  a  day  during  two  years,  and 
the  cost  of  what  they  ate  and  drank  was  $1900,  instead  of  Mr.  Phelps's  $600. 
The  wrong  done  to  Mr.  Cowley  and  the  Church  was  that  proof  of  these  si^,- 
j)lies  of  food  was  not  demonstrated  in  Court.  They  show  that  the  doctors 
were  deceived  by  the  hypothetical  questions  of  Mr.  Phelps;  that  judges  and 
jurymen  were  misled  and  deceived ;  and  that  the  Fold  children  fared  quite 
as  well  at  table  as  those  of  other  charitable  institutions.   It  is  $1900  vs.  $600. 

Judges  and  jurymen  were  equally  deceived  in  the  photographs  taken  of 
Louis  Victor  on  Jan.  6th,  and  alleged  to  be  correct  representations  of  him 
when  he  left  the  Shepherd's  Fold  on  Dec.  26th.  Yet  he  had  not  then  been 
confined  to  his  bed,  and  would  not  stay  in  bed.  His  appetite  was  hearty, 
and  he  had  eaten  well  of  solid  food  for  breakfast  and  dinner  on  the  day  of 
his  removal.  He  ate  heartily  on  Christmas  day,  and  every  day  for  the  pre- 
vious two  months.  He  disliked  baby  food,  and  wanted  a  meat  diet  like 
adults.  This  he  had  had  for  months,  when  Mrs.  Cowley  wrapped  him  in  a 
large  warm  cloak,  and  took  him  to  St.  Luke's  Hospital  (that  is,  from  157 


4 


East  Sixtieth  street  to  the  corner  of  Fifth  avenue  and  Fifty-fourth  street)  on 
a  pleasant  December  afternoon.  On  the  way  he  asked  to  "  get  down  and 
play  in  the  snow"!  He*had  a  clear,  strong  voice,  and  when  taken  to  the 
ward  of  said  Hospital,  several  of  the  children  came  to  see  him.  He  asked 
them  their  names,  and  repeated  to  the  nurse  of  the  ward  some  verses  he  had 
learned,  and  also  a  hymn.  Then  seeing  some  dishes  brought  into  the  room, 
he  said  "  Dinnie  !  dinnie  !  "  and  Mrs.  Cowley  being  still  with  him,  asked  that 
"something  be  given  him,  as  he  usually  ate  lunch  between  meals."  The 
nurse  then  gave  him  a  plate  of  light  pudding.  Thus  he  was  not  dangerously, 
perhaps  not  seriously,  ill  when  placed  in  said  Hospital :  for  the  disease  of 
rickets  was  leaving  him,  and  his  diarrhoea,  though  troublesome,  had  so  far 
been  controlled. 

LOUIS  IN  THE  HOSPITAL. 

On  Dec.  27th  his  hospital  treatment  began.  He  was  allowed  no  solid 
food — nothing  but  boiled  milk  and  salt,  with  lime-water.  He  cried  for  meat, 
but  they  gave  him  none,  continuing  for  several  weeks  the  boiled-milk-and- 
salt-with-lime-water  diet,  and  paying  no  heed  to  his  cries.  At  length  he  was 
given  injections  of  blood  and  a  little  raw  meat  cut  up  fine.  But  before  this, 
on  Jan.  6th,  Dr.  Ridlon  had  reported  him  to  the  Society,  and  Mr.  Gerry 
ordered  his  photograph  taken,  he  being  then  twelve  days  in  St.  Luke's.  The 
records  show  that  during  those  twelve  days  Louis  had  from  seven  to  nine 
passages  daily,  and  on  Jan.  8th  Dr.  Jacobi  found  him  in  the  Hospital  "  in 
bed,  not  able  to  sit  up,  suffering  from  diarrhoea  and  pretty  extensive  inflamma- 
tion of  his  left  lung;  emaciated,  intellectually  reduced,  and  askihg  for  food 
all  the  time  "  (469-474).  This  after  being  in  said  Hospital  fourteen  days,  and 
his  photogroph  being  taken  only  two  days  before  !  Reason  and  experience 
revolt  from  believing  that  his  condition  then  was  the  same  as  on  Dec.  26th. 
" The  child  was  suffering  from  that  chronic  diarrhoea  and  the  pneumonia" 
(474,  483).  "  His  diet  would  not  produce  pneumonia.  Without  knowing  his 
history,  could  not  say  what  caused  his  intestinal  disease"  (477).  "The 
child  could  not  have  existed  on  the  diet"  assumed  in  the  hypothetical  ques- 
tions (482,  478-480).  So  said  Dr.  Jacobi,  witness  for  the  prosecution;  and 
the  evidence  shows  that  Louis  Victor  never  had  such  a  diet.  Starvation,  if 
followed  by  proper  treatment,  would  not  leave  a  child  crying  for  food  after 
fourteen  days  of  good  feeding.  Yet  his  diarrhoea  was  then  severe,  and  he 
had  pneumonia  !  Dr.  Eidlon  was  mistaken  in  his  diagnosis  or  in  his  treat- 
ment. Dr.  Jacobi  testified  he  could  not  live  long  on  a  milk  diet  (495,  496) ; 
if  diseased,  he  might  be  treated  with  a  milk  diet  (503,  504).  Yet  boiled-milk- 
and-salt-with-lime-water  was  his  only  diet  for  several  weeks  ! 

Dr.  Spitzka  saw  Victor  on  Jan.  30th,  or  thirty-live  days  after  being  in  hos- 
pital (518).  He  was  then  very  much  emaciated ;  the  muscles  and  tissues  of 
the  body,  of  the  extremities  and  chest,  were  very  much  diminishe  I  in  vol- 
ume, and  the  abdomen  immensely  enlarged,  owing  to  the  ravenous  appetite 
and  the  large  amount  of  food  that  the  child  had  taken  (520,  521).  No 
traces  of  permanent  injury  were  then  present  in  Victor  (525).  Dr.  Spitzka 
was  of  opinion  that  the  appearance  of  Victor  was  due  to  malnutrition  (528). 
It  proceeds  from  the  absence  of  nutritive  articles,  or  from  an  incapacity  to 
assimilate  the  food  (530).  He  knew  nothing  of  Victor  except  what  he  had 
learned  of  others  (561-567). 


5 

Dr.  Hamilton  saw  Louis  Jan.  13th,  when  nineteen  days  in  hospital.  He 
•was  very  much  emaciated,  scarcely  able  to  sit  up  a  few  minutes  in  his  bed 
(597-599) ;  then  suffering  from  diarrhoea,  as  informed ;  did  not  examine  his 
lungs  ;  his  attention  was  not  called  to  the  pneumonia  of  Jan.  8th  (G12,  613) — 
a  very  singular  omission  in  Dr.  Kidlon ;  malnutrition  is  bad  nutrition;  the 
person  himself  may  be  at  fault,  eating  very  heartily  of  nutritious  food,  and 
a  subject  of  malnutrition,  not  assimilating  food  (61G,  617).  That  was  the 
condition  of  Victor  on  Jan.  13th  (618) ;  was  informed  by  the  house  surgeon 
(Dr.  Ridlon)  of  his  diet;  suspected  innutrition.  "I  saw  the  whole  line  of 
his  back ;  it  struck  me  then — the  peculiar  curve.  I  bear  still  in  mind  exactly 
the  curve;  could  describe  it  with  a  pencil  and  piece  of  paper"  (625,  626). 
This  curvature  of  the  spine  is  one  of  the  indications  of  rickets ;  also  vora- 
cious appetite,  emaciation,  diarrhoea,  etc.  (Dr.  Small's  Manual,  p.  800). 

Dr.  Stephen  Smith  heard  read  the  description  testified  to  by  Dr.  Hawes  : 
H  I  regard  that  as  very  characteristic  of  it  [rickets].  Among  its  most  prom- 
inent indications  —  large  joints,  pigeon  breast,  large  abdomen,  diarrhoea; 
the  previous  nutriment  would  not  make  any  difference  as  regards  swollen  bones 
and  pigeon  breast;  frequent  between  one  and  three  years  of  age,  or  even 
*  suppose  he  was  ten  or  fifteen  years  of  age.'"  To  the  Court:  "Bones  are 
enlarged  and  curved,  become  softened,  may  occur  at  any  age"  (1005,  1011) ; 
41  might  have  rickets  so  slight  as  to  be  scarcely  traceable  "  (1011);  "diet 
should  be  nourishing"  (1012).  "  Properly  prepared,  I  regard  Indian  meal, 
bean  soup,  pea  soup,  hominy,  rice,  meat,  eggs,  lettuce,  tomatoes,  and  food 
of  that  character,  as  nutritious  (1015).  With  a  sore  mouth,  it  could  not  chew 
meat  properly  for  digestion ;  it  could  take  blood  of  meat "  (1015).  After 
being  i  i  hospital  about  three  weeks,  Louis  was  given  injections  of  blood  !  St. 
Luke's  Records  show  this. 

Dr.  Jacobi :  "  Beans  and  peas  contain  a  large  amount  of  nutrition,  a  good 
deal  of  nitrogen ;  cannot  say  if  meat  contains  more,  pound  for  pound ;  eggs 
contain  as  much  "  (507,  508). 

Sir  H.  Thompson  recommends  bread  and  butter,  fruits  and  vegetables, 
fish,  mil£,  and  eggs,  for  children;  and  he  says  "It  is  a  vulgar  error  to 
regard  meat  in  any  form  as  necessary  to  life.  .  .  .  Cereals,  vegetables,  and 
fruits,  with  some  fish,  lead  not  to  indigestion"  ("Diet  in  Relation  to  Age 
and  Activity,"  in  The  Nineteenth  Century). 

Dr.  Hall  says  "A  laboring  man  can  live  well  and  keep  well  on  good  bread 
made  from  cereals,  and  well-cooked  beans  and  peas.  Beans  are  very  valu- 
able food.  Bean  soup  is  the  best  bean  food.  We  have  known  bean  food  to 
cure  many  cases  of  scrofula  [and  rickety  affections  are  scrofulous — Dr. 
Small,  p.  800].  The  oil  removes  blood  poison.  In  the  late  war  any  amount 
of  hard  marching  and  desperate  fighting  was  performed  on  a  bean  and  wheat 
diet.  The  legumes  contain  albuminous,  nitrogenous,  and  oleaginous  ele- 
ments in  a  large  degree,  and  are  therefore  givers  of  heat,  and  builders  up  of 
muscular  and  nervous  waste"  (Dr.  W.  W.  Hall  in  papers  of  Health  Food 
Company,  written  in  1876). 

Dr.  F.  Seeger,  with  whom  one  of  the  Fold  boys  had  lived  for  some  time, 
was  emphatic  in  his  opinion  that  the  diet,  as  fully  described  to  him,  was 
very  nutritious. 

Here  we  encounter  a  most  significant  fact.    It  touches  young  Dr.  Ridlon, 


6 


who  for  only  two  months  had  been  house  physician  at  St.  Luke's,  and  upon 
whose  report  'the  prosecution  society  had  Victor  photographed  after  he  had 
suffered  from  the  waste  ^f  seven  to  nine  passages  daily  during  the  eleven 
days  of  his  hospital  treatment,  and  he  still  crying  for  food  !  No  ordinary 
child,  suffering  only  from  semi-starvation,  and  without  disease,  would  cry 
for  food  and  have  seven  to  nine  stools  a  day  after  proper  treatment  contin- 
ued for  eleven  days.  In  Victor's  case  it  continued,  according  to  Dr.  Jacobi, 
for  fourteen  days  ;  according  to  Dr.  Hamilton,  for  nineteen  days ;  and  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Spitzka,  for  thirty- five  days !  These  are  the  three  physicians 
called  by  Dr.  Ridlon  ;  yet  he  himself  was  not  the  chief  doctor  of  St.  Luke's. 
This  puts  a  new,  if  not  suspicious,  appearance  on  the  case.  It  clearly  was 
Dr.  Ridlon's  first  duty  to  call  the  head  physician  appointed  by  the  Hospital 
authorities,  and  those  who  were  known  as  visiting  physicians.  Yet  those 
called  by  Dr.  Ridlon  were  outsiders,  unfamiliar  with  the  ways  of  St.  Luke's, 
and  wholly  dependent  upon  the  representations  (as  seen  in  their  testimony) 
made  to'  them  by  Dr.  Ridlon,  whose  diagnosis  was  at  fault,  whose  report  of 
previous  diet  was  incorrect,  and  whose  self-confidence  was  only  equalled  by 
his  inexperience.  His  treatment  of  Victor  had  been  unsuccessful  for  more 
than  twenty  days  ;  then  he  changed  it,  and  gave  what  Dr.  Stephen  Smith  said 
should  have  been  given  earlier  (1015) — the  juices  of  meat,  or  blood.  Dr. 
Ridlon  gave  injections  of  blood  and  raw  meat  cut  up  fine  after  a  three  weeks' 
diet  of  boiled-milk-and-salt-with-lime-water !  Whatever  may  have  been  his 
previous  treatment,  Louis  Victor  should  not  have  been  restricted  to  a  milk- 
and-salt  diet  for  three  weeks  together,  while  he  was  crying  for  meat.  And 
the  photograph  taken  of  him  twelve  days  after  such  treatment,  could  not 
have  been  a  correct  representation  of  him  when  he  left  the  Fold,  Dec.  26th. 
It  assumes  that  a  child  of  only  five  yeacs,  who  was  subjected  to  a  radical 
change  in  his  diet  (from  solid  food  to  milk  and  salt  and  lime-water),  and  also 
suffering  from  the  waste  of  seven  to  nine  passages  daily,  would  not  lose  flesh 
and  become  more  emaciated  in  the  course  of  eleven  full  days  of  such  condi- 
tion. And  all  the  while  he  cried  for  food  !  Yet  there  was  not  a  'particle  oj 
evidence  in  Court,  nor  before  the  Church  Committee,  that  Victor  ever  cried 
for  food  when  in  charge  of  Mr.  Cowley. 

LOUIS  IN  THE  SHEPHERD'S  FOLD. 

Victor  was  brought  to  the  Fold  by  his  father,  and  admitted  by  Mrs. 
Cowley  without  medical  examination,  Jan.  23d,  1878.  The  insinuation  of 
Justice  Brady  (Error  Book,  folio  18-r)0)  that  he  was  placed  in  said  Fold  at  the 
solicitation  of  Mr.  Cowley,  is  without  proof  and  contradicts  the  evidence 
(1056-1061).  The  mother  had  been  dead  long  enough  for  the  father  to  have 
married  again,  and  have  another  child  born  to  him,  whom  he  left  an  infant 
in  England  when  Louis  was  only  two  and  a  half  years  old.  The  father  was 
frequent  in  his  visits  to  Louis  at  first,  but  did  not  call  to  see  him  after  June, 
1878  (1063).  He  came  a  stranger,  and  disappeared  after  five  months.  Mr. 
Cowley  knew  nothing  of  him,  or  of  Louis's  mother. 

Symptoms  of  what  developed  into  rickets  appeared  in  Louis  in  1878  (1067- 
1071).  He  became  tired  much  sooner  than  other  Fold  children,  who  com- 
plained of  him.    There  was  no  parent  to  explain  his  ailment.    Dr.  Spitzka 


7 


says  that  as  soon  as  a  child  begins  to  walk,  rickets  appear  (540).  Louis  was 
not  vigorous  in  July,  1879;  had  quinine,  eggs,  fresh  vegetables,  wheaten 
bread,  and  butter  (1073-1077);  an  egg  for  breakfast,  two  tomatoes  at  Lunch, 
one  at  night,  sometimes  lettuce;  canker  in  his  mouth  (so  says  Miss  Callahan 
the  teacher,  864,  922-933).  He  was  taken  to  Dr.  Hawes  in  August  (854-859, 
921),  who  swore  he  had  "pigeon  breast,  large  joints — a  disease  called  rick- 
ets; prescribed  cod-liver  oil  and  syrup  of  iodide  of  iron"  (880-882).  Mrs. 
Cowley  showed  the  usual  interest  in  him  and  others  (884,  885);  visited  the 
institution  the  last  of  October,  1879;  the  child  was  emaciated,  abdomen  en- 
larged, pigeon  breast;  he  had  diarrhoea;  ate  ravenously,  and  did  not  digest 
his  food  (887-894) ;  saw  him  three  times,  once  after  October  (912). 

The  photographs  taken  twelve  days  after  Louis  was  put  in  St.  Luke's, 
were  shown  to  Dr.  Hawes.  He  did  not  think  he  was  as  much  emaciated  as 
represented ;  did  not  show  the  swollen  condition  of  his  legs  as  he  recollected 
them;  "  it  is  decidedly  more  emaciated  here  [indicating  with  his  finger]  than 
when  I  saw  it "  (the  child,  889) ;  gave  him  the  same  attention  that  he  would  to  one 
he  expected  to  be  paid  for  (886) ;  he  saw  Louis  four  times — twice  at  the  Fold, 
and  twice  in  his  office  (1322,  393,  120) ;  and  so  Mrs.  L.  G.  Mooney  testified. 
Dr.  Hawes  was  sent  for  the  last  of  October.  He  assumed  the  medical  care  of 
Louis  Victor,  and  was  thenceforth  responsible  that  his  orders  were  obeyed. 
"  If  the  doctor,"  said  Mr.  Cowley  to  the  Church  Committee,  "  had  prescribed 
gold-coated  pills  or  a  pound  of  tenderloin  steak  daily,  I  would  have  supplied 
them.  I  carried  out  his  prescriptions."  Dr.  Hawes  swore  he  prescribed  the 
proper  remedies  (891,  892) ;  gave  only  general  directions  as  to  diet  (901) ;  did 
not  report  the  result  of  his  examination  of  Louis's  water ;  former  treatment 
continued  without  intermission  after  the  Doctor's  visit. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowley  had  had  long  experience  and  great  success  with 
others.  Their  judgment  was  approved  by  other  physicians,  and  a  child  in 
their  care  was  said  by  Dr.  Hunt  to  be  more  likely  to  get  well,  if  sick,  than  if 
sent  to  a  hospital.  Yet  because  of  Louis's  taking  cold  easily,  and  so  having 
diarrhoea,  they  consulted  about  his  removal  to  a  hospital  three  weeks  before 
he  was  taken  to  St.  Luke's  !  "  They  could  not  conceive  his  sickness  could 
last  longf  while  he  ate  so  well "  (754-756).  He  ate  ravenously  after  being 
thirty-five  days  at  St.  Luke's  (520,  521).    This  proves  disease. 

Fanny  McCurdy  swore :  "About  every  day  for  weeks  before  Louis  went 
away,  Mr.  Cowley  sent  him  a  cup  of  coffee  in  the  morning,  and  some  ham 
cut  up.  Every  day  something  was  sent  him.  He  may  have  eaten  at  the 
table  up-stairs"  (299,  300,  337).  "Louis  had  a  chicken,  sonie  buns,  cakes, 
candy.  WJiatever  kind  of  meat  Mr.  Cowley  had,  he  cut  off  some  and  sent  to 
him  ;  I  never  saw  him  send  it  down,  but  it  always  came  down  "  (359-361.)  "  He 
got  it  every  morning  "  (362).  "  In  September  Miss  Callahan  gave  him  cake, 
and  Mrs.  Cowley  gave  him  tea  "  (363).  "  He  had  night-clothes  "  (374).  "  Po- 
tatoes were  cooked  for  the  children"  (397);  "know  of  the  doctor  being 
called  to  see  him  twice;  he  had  cod-liver  oil,  china,  rhus  tox.,  aconite, 
syrup  of  ipecac."  (380-384,  393).  "The  doctor  came  twice  to  the  house. 
The  children  had  salt  fish  once,  fresh  fish  twice;  they  had  potatoes.  I 
had  the  key  of  the  store-room"  (344,  350,  351,  379).  "I  got  four  cuj>s. 
Mrs.  Cowley  told  me  each  cup  was  about  four  pints,  and  would  make  two 
quarts  [that  is,  the  four  cups  would  make  sixteen  pints,  or  eight  quarts] 


8 


of  Indian  meal,  peas,  and  beans"  (345,346).  "Prepared  the  usnql  quan- 
tity of  beans  the  day  the  children  were  taken — two  quarts  of  beans" 
(388).  This  is  evidently  wrong:  for  on  measurement,,  the  water  being 
poured  off,  there  were  eleven  quarts !  Such  was  the  testimony  before  the 
Church  Committee.  A  portion  of  that  food,  two  slices  of  brown  bread,  and 
a  modicum  of  diluted  condensed  milk,  for  about  a  year,  Mr.  Phelps  assumed, 
in  his  hypothetical  questions  to  Dr.  Jacobi  (478-480),  to  Dr.  Spitzka  (532,  533), 
and  to  Dr.  Hamilton  (002,  603),  to  be  the  daily  food  of  Louis  Victor — hence 
his  sickness.  But  his  own  witnesses  had  sworn  to  rice  once  or  twice  a  week 
(Bessie  Lawrence,  147) ;  fish  once  a  week  for  dinner  (143) ;  a  cup  of  molasses 
for  the  mush  (153) ;  tea  and  coffee  for  those  who  did  not  drink  milk  (159, 
299);  sometimes  eggs  (445);  a  ham  bone  often  put  in  soup  (259,  445);  meat 
and  poultry  on  all  festivals  and  holidays;  meat  for  supper  once  (464,  465), 
and  once  or  twice  ice  cream  (466).  The  facts  show  three  times  as  much 
food.  And  Louis's  change  of  diet  began  in  July,  with  eggs  and  tomatoes, 
and  then  Dr.  Havves's  treatment.  So  says  the  teacher  (922-932),  and  also 
that  his  breakfast  was  cooked  at  the  same  time  as  that  of  the  family  (932, 
1303-1306). 

MES.  COWLEY'S  NEW  TESTIMONY. 

After  careful  reference  to  dates  of  purchases,  of  medical  supplies,  of  con- 
sultations with  Dr.  Hawes  and  notes  of  his  prescriptions,  Mrs.  Cowley  states  : 

"I  took  Louis  Victor  to  Dr.  Hawes  the  first  Monday  in  August,  1879,  and 
after  examination  he  said  he  had  rickets— it  was  constitutional,  and  would 
take  time  to  outgrow  it.  I  told  him  I  had  no  experience  in  rickets,  and 
should  depend  entirely  on  him.  He  prescribed  cod-liver  oil  and  syrup  of 
iodide  of  iron,  to  be  given  Louis  three  times  a  day — one  before,  the  other 
after,  meals.  I  had  two  quarts  of  Schieffelin's  cod-liver  oil,  and  that  was 
regularly  given  him.  The  iodide  of  iron  I  got  at  the  druggist's.  I  was  then 
absent  about  three  weeks,  and  found  Louis  better  on  1113'  return.  In  the 
latter  part  of  August  he  and  all  the  Fold  went  on  an  excursion  to  Hart's 
Island,  and  enjoyed  it  much  ;  he  ran  about  the  steamer,  and  was  very  happy. 
The  canker  had  left  him,  for  which  I  had  given  arsenicum  and  china,  and 
washed  his  mouth  with  a  borax  solution  three  times  a  day.  He  ate  three  or 
four  tomatoes  every  day,  with  eggs  and  some  nice  thing  he  liked,  besides 
his  regular  meals.  [All  the  witnesses  agree  on  this.]  On  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber we  all  went  on  a  second  excursion  to  Hart's  Island,  which  Louis  enjoyed 
more  actively  than  the  first.  I  continued  the  oil  and  tonic  treatment  till 
October,  and  before  the  9th  of  that  month  I  again  consulted  Dr.  Hawes 
about  him.  He  then  prescribed  emulsion  of  cod-liver  oil,  and  continued  the 
iron.  On  Oct.  9  I  got  two  one-quart  bottles  of  Scott  &  Bowne's  Emulsion, 
and  thereafter  gave  Louis  of  that  thrice  a  day,  and  continued  the  iron.  At 
the  end  of  October,  I  sent  for  Dr.  Hawes  to  come  and  see  Victor,  who  had 
diarrhoea.  He  came,  made  a  full  examination  of  him,  and  '  prescribed  a 
mixture  of  opium  and  some  aromatic'  The  former  prescriptions  were  con- 
tinued, and  he  requested  '  a  bottle  of  his  water  to  be  sent  him  for  examina- 
tion,' which  was  sent.  Having  no  report  from  such  inspection,  I  continued 
the  former  treatment,  with  a  nourishing  diet :  that  is,  Louis  had  whatever  ire, 
had,  and  some  dishes  specially  'prepared — meats,  fish,  or  eggs  twice  a  day. 
with  vegetables,  tea,  coffee,  or  cocoa,  and  white  bread  and  butter— the  same 


9 


as  that  of  the  officers.  It  was  quite  up  to  the  standard  of  similar  charities, 
and  was  better  than  that  of  the  city  institutions.  About  Nov.  15  I  saw  Dr. 
Hawes  again,  and  reported  non-assimilation  of  the  oil.  He  said  '  Give  him  a 
teaspoonful  instead  of  a  tablespoonf ul  at  a  time.'  I  made  the  change,  giv- 
ing him  the  emulsion  six  times  a  day,  and  continued  the  other  treatment. 
Then  I  got  fifteen  vials  of  homneapathic  medicines,  and  gave  him  china, 
rhus  tox.,  &c,  for  diarrhoea,  which  another  physician  had  suggested,  but  con- 
tinued the  oil  and  the  iron  preparations.  About  Dec.  10  he  was  taken  to  see 
the  Christmas  decorations  at  Bloomingdale's  and  other  stores,  and  was  out 
about  two  hours.  He  was  much  interested,  but  took  cold,  and  the  diarrhoea 
returned.  I  sent  for  the  doctor ;  Louis  was  properly  treated  for  diarrhoea.  He 
was  not  then  so  sick  that  it  was  necessary  to  keep  him  in  bed.  His  appetite  was 
good.  I  did  just  as  I  had  done  for  children  of  well-to-do  parents,  and  always 
received  their  kind  thanks  ;  just  as  I  did  years  before  for  my  sister's  chil- 
dren ;  just  as  I  had  done  for  more  than  twenty  years  for  my  husband,  before 
a  physician  could  come  to  see  him,  and  my  actions  never  failed  to  have  the 
doctor's  approval.  I  know  I  did  right  by  Louis  Victor,  and  I  believe  he 
was  getting  well  of  rickets  before  I  took  him  to  St.  Luke's.  Never  have  I 
forgotten  the  peculiar  impression  which  Dr.  Ridlon  made  on  me.  I  felt 
there  was  something  not  right  about  him,  and  I  reported  his  peculiar  man- 
ner to  my  husband.  It  was  only  because  Louis  would  not  stay  in  bed,  and 
that  he  took  cold  easily,  which  increased  the  diarrhoea,  that  I  consented  to 
put  him  in  the  Hospital.  According  to  my  understanding,  all  his  ailings  in 
the  Fold  prove  rickets,  and  that  Dr.  Hawes  was  right  in  his  treatment." 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  Louis  Victor  received  proper  food,  care,  and 
attention  from  Mr.  "Cowley,  and  that  he  provided  a  competent  physician. 
The  standard  is  our  public  institutions.  All  conversant  with  the  diet  and 
care  supplied  to  children  by  the  city,  will  see  that  the  food  and  treatment  of 
Louis  in  the  Shepherd's  Fold  were  as  good,  or  better,  than  he  would  have 
had  in  the  city  charities.  That  is  the  public  standard.  How  was  a  child  of 
five  years,  not  confined  to  his  bed,  but  up  all  day,  treated  at  Randall's 
Island  ?  jHad  he  a  nurse  as  competent  as  Mrs.  Cowley,  and  a  physician  of 
larger  experience  than  Dr.  Hawes,  and  a  general  regimen  better  than  Louis 
received  at  the  Shepherd's  Fold  ?  If  not,  who  dare  charge  neglect  against 
Mr.  Cowley  ?  The  photographs  show  rickets,  and  Dr.  Hawes  shows  that 
Louis  was  getting  well  of  them.  But  his  taking  cold  caused  diarrhoea : 
hence  his  transfer  to  St.  Luke's,  and  for  no  other  reason  in  evidence. 

CARE  AND  OVERSIGHT. 

Miss  Valois  was  an  assistant  from  November,  1877,  to  Jan.  6,  1879.  Then 
followed  Miss  Callahan  till  Sept.  22d,  being  absent  part  of  July  (1234,  1235) ; 
she  was  in  charge  of  the  children  at  meals  and  in  school  (814-846).  Then 
followed  Miss  Gardner  from  the  latter  part  of  October  to  the  Tuesday  before 
Thanksgiving  (1289).  She  prepared  Louis's  breakfast,  which  consisted  of 
toast  and  eggs.  Mr.  Cowley  told  her  to  give  him  meat,  fish,  eggs,  or  what- 
ever the  officers  had — some  specially  prepared  for  him  (1302-1305).  Miss 
Gardner  was  requested  to  give  Louis  his  breakfast  before  she  ate  her  own. 

Next  came  Mrs.  Mason,  who  was  there  two  weeks  in  March,  and  "  from 


10 


the  last  of  November  to  three  or  four  days  before  Christmas"  (041,  042). 
"There  was  no  other  child  sick.  My  visit  was  to  assist  my  sister.  Gave 
medicine  to  Louis  at  night;  took  care  of  him  nights  ;  slept  in  the  room  ad- 
joining his;  was  about  three  yards  from  where  he  was  ;  left  my  door  open  at 
night.  Mrs.  Cowley  gave  him  remedies  in  the  evening;  saw  her  prepare 
them  "  (042-047).  "Louis  had  the  same  care  as  parents  take  of  their  children  ; 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowley  gave  him  the  care  that  parents  would — as  I  should  "  (053- 
055).  "  I  never  heard  him  cry  while  I  was  there,  or  complain  of  hunger- 
no,  nor  any  of  the  children"  (057,  058).  "My  last  visit  was  three  weeks" 
(033).    She  left  only  four  days  before  Louis  was  taken  to  St.  Luke's. 

Mrs.  Ferris  was  the  owner  of  the  Fold  house,  and  "  went  over  it  fre- 
quently, and  observed  everything  kept  clean — a  good  supply  of  bedding  and 
towels"  (700-708).  "  Mrs.  Cowley  was  very  attentive  to  the  children,  even 
to  a  cough  "  (701,  702).  "Louis  Victor  looked  up  to  Mr.  Cowley  as  a  father;  he 
acted  towards  him  just  as  a  parent  would.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowley  were  very 
kind  to  him"  (710-724).  Mrs.  Ferris  lived  in  the  front  room  of  the  second 
floor  from  May  1,  1879,  to  May  1,  1880,  excepting  brief  absences  in  Summer, 
and  had  her  spare  goods  locked  up  in  the  hall  room  of  the  top  floor,  where  a 
child  was  falsely  said  to  have  been  imprisoned,  and  fed  on  bread  and  water, 
for  punishment.-  This  was  fully  examined  into  and  disproved  before  the 
Church  Committee.  Mrs.  Ferris,  a  grandmother,  and  by  faith  a  Baptist, 
gave  very  favorable  testimony  of  Mr.  Cowley.  Never  had  she  heard  any 
complaints  from  any  child,  and  the  larger  girls  often  stopped  in  her  room  on 
the  way  to  bed ;  their  relations  were  quite  familiar  and  friendly.  She  said 
that  her  cousin  inquired  for  her  what  objection  there  ^Yas  to  Mr.  Cowley  in 
the  Finance  Department.  He  reported  '5  None  whatever,  but  there  was  out- 
side envy  and  jealousy  of  him.  They  didn't  mean  he  should  have  the  two 
Folds."  This  lady  appeared  before  the  Legislative  Committee  at  Albany  to 
urge  the  investigation  asked  by  Mr.  Cowley. 

Beside  much  valuable  aid  from  Miss  Gahagan  and  other  ladies,  Mrs. 
Cowley  had  the  help  of  eight  of  the  twenty-five  children — girls  from  twelve 
to  near  sixteen  years  old  ;  and  there  were  only  five  children  under  five  years 
of  age,  the  youngest  being  Georgie  Prideau  and  Bobbie  Wood,  the  bright 
little  ones  who  passed  the  inspection  of  Dr.  Kanney.  The  order  and  system 
in  the  Fold  made  each  helper's  duty  easy.  Mr.  Cowley  had  charge  of  the 
larger  boys,  who  showed  they  loved  him;  and  he  met  all  the  children  at 
least  once  a  day,  at  evening  prayers.    Louis  was  always  able  to  be  present. 

NEW  TESTIMONY  OF  APPROVAL. 

Mrs.  H.  R.  Sherer,  housekeeper  for  many  years  at  Mr.  Haight's,  "had 
her  little  niece,  A.  M.  Stewart,  in  Mr.  Cowley's  care  nearly  five  years.  She 
was  very  happy  and  healthful  there,  and  was  much  attached  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cowley.  She  was  in  the  country  at  the  time  of  the  trial,  and  went  to  bed 
crying  with  grief  at  what  was  said  in  the  newspapers,  exclaiming  '  I  know 
that's  all  false  !  that's  all  false ! '  When  an  inmate  of  the  Shepherd's  Fold, 
she  used  to  visit  me  often,  and  I  went  to  see  her.  I  was  always  please;!  with 
the  treatment  and  care  she  received.  She  was  a  year  or  more  with  Louis 
Victor.    I  would  be  happy  to  place  any  child  in  care  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowley." 


COST  OF  FOOD  IN  ODE  CITI  CHAKITIES.      rants.  Tl 


11 


Minnie  Myers  testified  that  she  was  about  four  years  in  their  care,  and 
was  very  much  attached  to  them.  She  knew  Louis,  and  says  that  he  was 
well  eared  for  in  the  Fold.  She  was  there  from  November,  1875,  till  she  left 
in  1879,  and  was  kindly  treated  and  cared  for  all  the  time  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cowley  had  charge;  a  part  ot  that  time  she  was  in  the  Children's  Fold,  and 
then  in  the  Shepherd's  Fold — for  she  would  not  remain  in  the  Children's 
Fold  after  they  left.  She  always  had  plenty  of  good  food,  and  knew  none 
there  that  didn't.  All  were  quite  well  except  Louis  Victor.  When  Miss 
Myers  appeared  before  the  Committee,  she  had  not  seen  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Cowley 
for  more  than  a  year,  as  she  did  not  know  where  they  lived.  She  was  posi- 
tive as  to  ther-  being  enough  of  good  food  for  all. 

So  satisfied  was  the  mother  of  George  Prideau  with  the  care  which  her 
boy  received,  that  directly  upon  his  removal  by  the  prosecution,  she  sent  a 
written  request  to  Court  that  "her  child  should  be  at  once  returned  to  Mr. 
Cowley's  care :  for  ho  had  never  been  so  well  as  with  him,  and  had  never 
passed  a  Winter  without  suffering  from  severe  croup,  but  up  to  that  time 
George  had  been  perfectly  well."  He  was  rather  younger  tnan  Victor,  was 
one  of  his  companions,  and  passed  Dr.  Ranney's  scrutiny. 

Mrs.  Mason,  who  was  employed  in  the  family  of  Bowie  Dash,  Esq.,  ap- 
peared of  her  own  volition  before  the  Church  Committee.  She  had  two  chil- 
dren in  the  Shepherd's  Fold,  and  gave  most  favorable  testimony  touching 
the  care  and  treatment  they  received  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowdey,  and  her 
appreciation  of  their  kindness.  Both  were  young  children,  and  companions 
of  Louis  Victor. 

The  baker,  the  milkman,  and  the  grocer,  who  saw  the  children  daily,  were 
emphatic,  in  their  testimony  to  the  Church  Committee,  of  the  well-being  and 
healthy  appearance  of  the  children.  Teachers  of  the  Sunday-school  also 
testified — as  did  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tracy,  whose  church  and  Sunday-school  they 
mostly  attended  during  the  last  two  years—  as  to  the  smartness,  the  bub- 
bling spirits,  and  the  good  appearance  of  the  Shepherd's  Fold  children. 

# 

OTHERS  WHO  SAW  THE  CHILDREN. 

Mrs.  Rebecca  Collins,  a  preacher  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  a  Mana- 
ger and  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Home  to  which  the  children  seized 
on  Jan.  17  were  sent  the  same  day,  testified  to  the  Church  Committee  that 
she  "saw the  little  ones  from  the  Fold  sitting  at  the  table  eating  bread  and 
milk,  and  they  looked  very  happy.  It  was  not  long  after  they  had  been  re- 
ceived in  the  Home.  On  the  other  side  were  the  larger  children  at  a  table 
partaking  of  their  meal.  I  saw  this  girl  that  they  testified  had  all  the  work 
to  do— Fanny  McCurdy — and  I  should  not  think  that  she  had  been  abused. 
They  all  seemed  very  happy.  They  did  not  seem  to  have  been  subjected  to 
hard  treatment;  were  not  at  all  haggard  in  their  looks;  they  were  cheerful. 
Mrs.  Baylis,  our  Secretary,  told  me  that  she  did  not  see  in  those  children 
what  was  reported  in  the  papers.  They  were  fair-conditioned  for  their  rank 
in  life.    They  were  very  much  like  the  children  we  had  in  the  Home." 

Another  lady,  a  communicant  of  St.  Stephen's  Episcopal  Church,  who  also 
frequently  saw  the  children  in  the  Home,  testified  that  "  those  of  the  Shep- 
herd's Fold  appeared  to  her  to  be  equal  in  every  way  to  the  children  of 


12 


other  institutions.  She  saw  no  reason  from  their  looks  why  they  ohould  be 
removed  from  the  Fold." 

Mrs.  J.  J.  Thomas  testified  to  the  Church  Committee  that  she  "  knew  the 
children,  and  had  seen  Mrs.  Cowley's  devotion  to  them ;  and  if  there  was  a 
fault  with  Mr.  Cowley,  it  was  that  he  could  not  do  enough  for  the  children, 
instead  of  doing  too  little.  They  were  all  cheery  and  happy;  seeme  I  to 
have  a  home  and  a  mother's  love.  They  were  more  bright  and  happy  than 
any  similar  set  of  children  I  ever  saw,  and  I  have  had  to  do  with  many  insti- 
tutions. They  were  all  bright  and  happy,  with  the  exception  of  Louis  Vic- 
tor, at  the  time  of  the  raid.  I  was  a  visitor  of  the  Fold  up  to  that  time,  and 
on  the  Committee  which  examined  and  proved  the  bills  and  vouchers  for 
supplies." 

Mrs.  J.  T.  Spencer,  a  lady  of  the  Heavenly  Kest,  testified:  "I  saw  the 
children  at  the  trial,  and  they  appeared  different  to  what  they  did  at  the 
Fold.  As  they  passed  out,  Miss  C.  B.  Dennis,  who  had  been  with  the  Fold 
from  the  start,  said  '  Fanny  McCurdy,  Emma  Bowman,  how  dared  you  tell 
such  a  lie ! '  and  they  sneaked  away.  They  [the  Fold  children]  had  been 
kept  clean,  tidy,  and  properly  dressed.  After  taken  away  in  January,  1880, 
I  took  a  woman  to  clean  up  the  house,  and  the  floor  was  as  clean  as  a  floor 
could  well  be.  The  woman  said  '  It  does  not  need  cleaning.'  The  kitchen 
table  was  also  clean.  The  children  were  bright  and  happy,  and  came  to  my 
house." 

Mrs.  A.  C.  Bettner  testified  :  "  I  never  left  the  Fold  without  being  pleased 
and  contented  with  everything  I  saw  there.  I  saw  the  children  in  a  familiar 
way,  as  they  came  close  about  me  while  teaching  them  music.  My  impres- 
sions are  entirely  favorable,  and  I  so  expressed  myself  to  those  who  tried 
to  prevent  my  coming  before  the  Committee." 

Miss  Charlotte  B.  Dennis,  1005  Madison  avenue,  a  lady  conversant  with 
the  Fold  during  its  whole  history,  under  date  of  June  17,  1885,  writes  : 

"Some  years  ago  we  admitted  a  very  poor  and  forlorn  marasmus  child, 
who  was  a  great  care  for  many  months,  when  Mrs.  Cowley  took  her  into  her 
own  family.  She  was  tenderly  nursed  for  nine  weeks,  and  so  rapidly  im- 
proved that  she  gained  a  pound  in  weight  each  week  till  convalescent.  Then 
she  was  returned  to  the  Shepherd's  Fold,  and  continued  to  improve  till  she 
became  one  of  the  fattest  there. 

"This  child  is  the  Emma  Bowman  who  was  a  witness  for  the  prosecution 
in  the  trial  of  Kev.  Mr.  Cowley  in  February,  1880.  To  his  kindly  care  indeed 
she  owes  her  life,  and  few  of  .us  who  first  knew  her  in  the  Shepherd's  Fold, 
ever  expected  her  to  live  to  maturity.  And  the  woman  with  whom  she  had 
boarded  before  we  opened  the  Fold,  brought  a  written  statement  from  the 
dispensary  physician,  saying  that  'she  could  not  probably  live  but  a  few 
months  at  longest.'  Under  Mr.  Cowley's  charge,  she  became  as  healthy  and 
robust,  and  with  as  good  prospects  of  life,  as  any  girl  we  ever  had.  Yet  her 
limbs  had  been  no  bigger  than  a  candle,  and  Mrs.  Cowley  knitted  stockings 
specially  for  her,  as  none  could  be  bought  long  enough  in  the  foot  and  small 
enough  for  the  leg.  Her  body  was  so  greatly  emaciated  that  she  was  laid  on 
a  pillow  to  prevent  pain  and  injury.  She  was  taken  from  the  Almshouse 
May  17,  1867,  and  was  in  care  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowley  till  Jan.  17,  1880." 

Mrs.  L.  G-.  Mooney,  an  active  member  of  St.  Stephen's  Church,  visited 


13 


Fanny  McCurdy  when  in  the  institution  in  Seventh  avenue  and  Fourteenth 
street.    She  wrote  to  Mr.  Cowley  thus  : 

"I  called  upon  Fanny  with  my  friend  Mrs.  Travers,  Dec.  4,  1883.  Some 
of  the  remarks  made  by  her  seemed  of  so  much'  consequence  that  I  wrote 
them  down  on  my  return  home.  I  was  prevented  by  illness  from  seeing  her 
again.  The  impression  on  my  mind  is  strong  that  her  false  statements 
about  you  were  prompted  entirely  by  fear  !  She  knew  she  had  done  wrong, 
and  was  afraid  of  the  consequences ;  so  sought  to  throw  discredit  upon  you. 
Mrs.  Travers,  who  listened  intently  to  our  conversation,  expressed  the  same 
opinion  to  me  at  the  time.  One  thing  I  particularly  noticed  about  Fanny  : 
before  she  was  aware  I  knew  you — she  could  not  speak  too  badly  of  you. 
But  as  soon  as  she  found  I  knew  something  of  you  and  of  the  case,  she  im- 
mediately changed  her  tone,  and  began  to  find  fault  with  the  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Cruelty.  I  felt  exceedingly  sorry  for  her.  She  gave  me  the 
impression  of  one  who  would  like  to  do  better,  but  whose  nature  was  so 
weak  that  she  would  not  stop  at  falsehood  to  shield  herself  from  shame. 
After  several  inquiries  about  the  other  children,  she  was  asked  '  Do  you  re- 
member a  lady  calling  on  you  in  Fifty-seventh  street,  and  inviting  you  to  go 
to  a  situation  ?'  '  No,  I  don't.'  Then  reminded  it  was  in  the  Fifty-seventh- 
street  pmon,  she  answered  '  I  do  remember.'  Then  I  asked  'Why  did  you 
prefer  returning  to  the  Fold  and  call  it  your  home,  if  you  were  so  cruelly 
treated  by  Mr.  Cowley  as  you  said  you  were  ?'  Answer — '  I  wouldn't  have 
said  as  much  as  I  did  against  him,  if  I  hadn't  been  put  up  to  it.  I  don't  recol- 
lect ichat  I  said — it  is  so  long  ago,  and  I  was  so  frightened ;  but  whatever 
it  was,  it  is  too  late  to  alter  it  now — I  must  stick  to  it.'  When  told  that  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cowley  had  suffered  greatly  owing  to  her  testimony,  the  tears  filled 
her  eyes,  and  she  said  '  I  am  earning  good  wages  now,  have  saved  S25,  and 
could  send  them  some  money  if  they  wanted  it.'  When  told  that  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cowley  always  spoke  kindly  of  her  and  the  other  children,  she  said 
'  I  am  very  thankful  to  them  for  taking  care  of  me  when  I  was  little.  I  have 
an  awful  temper ;  I  can't  help  it — I  got  it  from  my  father.  I  thought  the}" 
ought  to  have  paid  me  wages.  But  I  would  not  have  said  as  much  as  I  did 
against  hfm,  if  I  hadn't  been  put  up  to  it.  The  officers  of  the  Society  often 
talked  privately  to  me  and  to  the  other  children,  and  they  didn't  do  for  me  what 
they  promised.  I  vexed  Mr.  Gerry,  because  when  he  asked  me  if  the  children 
got  enough  to  eat,  I  said  they  could  tell  that  better  than  I  could.  That  made 
him  angry,  and  he  never  spoke  to  me  again.'  I  said  '  Why  did  you  testify 
there  was  no  rice  given  the  children,  when  you  say  they  had  rice  and  all 
such  things  ?  '  She  answered  with  great  excitement :  '  I  wouldn't  have  said 
half  I  did  against  Mr.  Cowley,  if  I  hadn't  been  so  frightened.  I  did  not 
know  what  they  would  do  to  me.'  [Signed]       L.  G.  Mooney. 

[X.  B. — Fanny  was  the  only  witness  in  court  as  to  quantity  of  food.] 
Miss  Jeanie  Robertson  and  Mrs.  Cowley  called  to  see  Fanny  McCurdy 
Dec.  13,  1883,  and  thus  reported  their  interview:  Fanny  said  that  "since 
those  two  ladies  came  to  see  her,  she  had  taken  advice,  and  was  told  that 
when  she  gave  her  testimony  in  Court,  she  was  in  care  of  the  Society ;  they 
had  called  her  to  testify ;  she  had  not  gone  herself  and  made  complaints. 
But  they  had  made  her  say  what  she  said,  and  they  were  responsible  for  it, 
not  she,  and  they  would  protect  her,"  which  she  repeated  several  times.  She 


14 


complained  of  the  Society  sending  her  to  Brooklyn,  then  to  Connecticut; 
that  when  she  "  found  Lillie  Hawes,  Minnie  St.  James,  and  Lizzie  Hunter  in 
Norwalk,  and  the  Society  learned  of  their  seeing  eaeh  other,  they  were  all 
changed,  and  placed  differently.  Soon  afterward  she  returned  to  New  York, 
and  Mrs.  Bennett  sent  her  to  the  Home  for  Destitute  Girls,  where  she  was 
kept  a  prison er  for  some  time.  Then  she  wrote  to  her  grandmother,  asking 
her  to  write  to  the  Matron  that  she  [the  grandmother]  was  sick,  and  wished 
Fanny  to  visit  her.  After  this  visit  to  her  grandmother,  she  returned,  and 
the  Matron  finding  her  superior  to  others  who  applied,  gave  her  a  place  as 
cook,  and  she  had  worked  there  up  to  that  time ;  was  then  receiving  $12  a 
month,  and  was  nineteen  years  of  age." 

The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  documents  presented  to  the  Governor 
and  to  the  Legislature,  with  Petition  for  investigation  in  this  case : 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss.  : 

Estella  Stendenbach  being  duly  sworn,  says  that  she  was  in  the  Fold 
about  six  years,  and  was  living  and  happy  therein  when  taken  to  the  Home 
for  the  Friendless.  That  she  worked  in  the  kitchen  and  dining-room  about 
the  dishes.  That  she  remembers  the  large  pan  in  which  Fanny  McCurdy 
used  to  put  the  beans  and  peas  to  soak  over  night  for  cooking  next  day;  in 
the  morning  when  she  went  in  the  kitchen,  the  pan  was  often  overflowing 
with  beans  or  peas,  swelled  over  night.  That  she  identified  the  pan  shown, 
and  felt  quite  sure  it  was  the  same  one  used  [it  holds  eleven  quarts].  She 
also  identified  the  cooking  pot  in  which  the  children's  food  wTas  prepared;  it 
was  almost  full  when  prepared;  saw  it  cooking  almost  full;  indicated  with 
her  finger  how  full  it  was — about  two  or  three  inches  from  the  top.  That 
the  children  were  served  with  a  soup-plate  full  (and  if  they  wanted  more, 
they  could  have  it)  and  bread ;  never  went  away  from  those  meals  hungr}'. 
Never  knew  that  Emma  Bowman  was  puirished  ;  some  of  the  children  were 
when  they  were  too  bad  and  deserved  it ;  never  heard  about  Emma  Bowman 
being  whipped  and  locked  up  by  Mr.  Cowley ;  she  was  never  locked  up  by 
him  ;  once  the  teacher  shut  her  up  in  a  hall  room.  There  was  no  dark  room, 
nor  any  room  in  which  naughty  children  were  locked;  never  saw  anyone 
locked  up  except  once  by  the  teacher.  Children  in  said  Fold  were  as  well 
supplied  just  before  being  taken  away  as  at  any  time ;  had  about  the  same 
meals  last  year  as  the  year  previously.  Were  taken  from  the  Fold  to  Court, 
then  to  a  restaurant,  then  to  the  Home  for  the  Friendless.  In  the  Home 
they  gave  us  something  to  put  on,  so  as  not  to  soil  our  dresses.  The  chil- 
dren went  to  Court,  to  the  restaurant,  and  to  the  Home  in  the  very  clothing 
in  which  they  left  the  Fold.  It  was  cold  weather.  Had  cloaks  provided  by 
Mr.  Cowdey — cloaks  with  capes  and  lined  inside ;  they  were  made  of  blue 
tlannel.  Had  what  was  considered  good  dresses  and  comfortable  undercloth- 
ing; a  seamstress  cut  out  the  clothing,  and  ladies  helped  to  make  it.  Had 
breakfast  in  the  Fold  the  morning  when  taken  away,  and  dinner  was  being 
prepared,  but  did  not  eat  again  till  in  the  restaurant,  and  it  was  almost  din- 
ner-time when  taken  away. 

Deponent  has  read  the  affidavit  of  her  mother,  Mary  Stendenbach,  dated 
Jan.  9,  1«83  ;  and  all  that  is  said  in  it  about  herself,  and  about  the  clothing 
and  kind  treatment  of  the  Fold  children,  she  believes  to  be  true  of  her  own 
knowleige.  Deponent  attended  the  grammar  school  in  Fifty-first  street,  and 
helped  in  the  kitchen  and  dining-room  at  meals  and  on  Saturdays,  and  saw 
the  food  prepared,  and  how  much  there  was  in  the  pot,  and  the  large  pot  was 
almost  full  of  the  different  foods,  beans  and  peas,  rice  and  hominy,  Indian 
meal  and  wheaten  grits,  pearl  barley  and  soups;  sometimes  it  was  fish  and 
potatoes;  on  festivals,  roasts  and  poultry  and  nice  things.  That  all  the 
children  had  all  they  wanted  at  meals,  and  could  have  more  by  asking,  and 
some  of  the  dinner  was  often  left  over,  and  eaten  by  any  who  wanted  it; 


15 


that  Fanny  McCurdy  could  get  all  the  stores  she  wanted  for  the  children, 
and  they  were  not  stinted  in  food  by  Mr.  Cowley. 

Deponent  remembers  the  large  cask  of  rice  and  a  barrel  of  rice  in  said 
Fold  at  Sixtieth  street,  and  it  lasted  a  long  while ;  that  it  is  wrong  to  say 
there  was  no  rice  for  the  children  in  Sixtieth  street.  Deponent  knows  that 
Charlie  Fox  did  not  attend  Mrs.  McClolland's  school,  but  that  he  attended 
the  grammar  school  in  Fifty-seventh  street ;  and  that  Lizzie  Vanhagen  was 
only  a  short  time  in  said  Fold,  and  had  not  been  living  in  it  for  a  long  while 
before  the  children  were  taken  away  by  E.  Fellows  Jenkins  and  others.  Said 
Jenkins  tried  to  get  her  to  say  things  which  were  not  true,  when  she  was  in 
said  Home  for  the  Friendless  in  February,  1880,  and  he  did  try  to  have  her 
say  at  his  dictation  that  she  "knew  she  did  not  have  enough  to  eat,  and  was 
not  kinrsly  treated  by  said  Cowley,'*  and  said  Jenkins  said  he  "  saw  the  beans 
that  were  in  the  pot  the  day  the  children  were  removed,  and  that  only  a  few 
beans  floated  on  the  water  " ;  but  deponent  knew  that  a  large  quantity  of 
beans  had  been  put  in  said  pot  that  day,  and  they  had  sunk  to  the  bottom, 
and  did  not  float  on  the  water.  Said  Jenkins  also  tried  to  have  her  say  that 
said  "  Cowley  was  cruel  to  her  and  other  children,  and  that  she  knew  it," 
when  she  k'.ew  that  he  was  kind  to  her  and  to  all  the  children,  and  always 
had  been  kind  to  them.  Deponent  was  not  called  to  testify  at  his  trial.  She 
was  fourteen  years  old,  and  knew  what  good  treatment  was,  and  would  not 
testify  falsely.  And  she  believes  that  said  Jenkins  put  in  the  mouth  of 
Fanny  McCurdy  and  some  other  girls  to  say  some  things  against  Mr.  Cowley, 
and  that  they  would  not  have  testified  as  they  did  if  he  had  not  instructed 
them;  and  she  knows  that  some  things  were  false,  and  she  had  no  way  of 
correcting  and  contradicting  it  till  she  appeared  before  said  Church  Commit- 
tee, and  she  had  not  then  seen  or  heard  from  said  Cowley  for  about  a  year. 
Deponent  knows  that  the  Fold  children  liked  Mr.  Cowley,  and  some  of  them 
tried  to  run  away  from  said  Home  for  tlii3  Friendless,  and  go  back  to.  said 
Fold.    They  liked  it,  and  were  healthy  and  happy  in  it. 

ESTELLA  STENDENBACH. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  December,  1883. 

William  F.  Hiers, 
Notary  Public  County  of  New  York  (11). 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss.  : 

Jane  McAllister  being  duly  sworn,  says  that  she  was  employed  during 
most  of  the  year  1S76  at  domestic  work  in  the  Children's  Fold,  and  lived 
therein,  and  was  paid  for  her  labor.  That  she  was  observant  of  the  care, 
diet,  and  general  management  of  its  children ;  and  that  as  compared  with 
other  im#;itutions  in  which  she  had  worked,  she  believed  the  care  and  man- 
agement of  said  Fold  to  be  in  many  respects  better ;  and  that  when  under 
charge  of  Rev.  Edward  Cowley,  its  children  were  kindly  treated,  well  fed, 
well  clothed,  and  were  being  well  educated.  That  in  the  latter  part  of  said 
year  deponent  was  sent  for  by  Mrs.  Dubois  of  the  Nursery  and  Child's  Hos- 
pital. That  said  Dubois  and  her  sister  asked  her  main-  questions,  some  of 
which  she  did  not  understand,  and  answered  differently  to  what  she  intended, 
and  that  her  answers  were  carried  back  and  forth  between  Mrs.  Dubois  and 
a  Mrs.  Dundas  and  her  daughter,  who  were  employed  by  Mrs.  Dubois,  and 
were  afterwards  discharged  by  her.  That  by  them  she  was  made  to  say  what 
she  did  not  mean  nor  intend  to  say,  and  which  was  Altered  so  as  to  reflect 
on  Mr.  Cowley's  management  of  said  Fold  ;  and  that  she  is  very  sorry  and 
grieved  that  her  meaning  should  have  been  so  distorted  and  misrepresented, 
and  she  knows  that  some  of  the  children  were  put  up  .to  say  things  which 
they  did  not  mean,  and  things  which  were  not  true,  but  false.  That  her 
opinion  of  Mr.  Cowley's  management  must  be  judged  by  what  she  meant,  not 
by  what  others  made  her  say,  and  that  he  was  kind  to  the  children,  and 
treated  them  well  and  kept  them  in  good  health  and  properly  clothed.  That 
she  took  her  little  boy  away  from  Mrs.  Dubois's  institution  as  soon  as  she 
was  able,  and  put  him  immediately  in  the  Shepherd's  Fold  (then  in  Mr. 
Cowley's  charge),  in  1878,  paying  about  the  usual  rate  for  such  children  ;  and 
that  she  then  and  thereafter  left  him  in  his  care,  believing  that  he  would  be 


16 


kindly  treated  well  fed,  properly  educated,  and  in  all  respects  well  cared  for 
in  that  Fold;  and  that  her  boy  became  healthy,  strong,  and  hardy,  which 
she  saw  at  her  frequent visits  to  him,  allhough  he  had  a  bad  head,  a  scabby 
face,  and  very  disagreeable  catarrh,  when  placed  in  Mr.  Cowley's  charge. 
Deponent  has  never  seen  nor  known  anything  but  kind  and  good  treatment 
of  children  by  said  Cowley  ;  and  that  she  left  her  own  and  only  child  in  his 
care  and  absolute  disposal,  is  the  best  evidence  of  her  good  opinion  of  him, 
and  of  his  management  of  said  Fold. 

And  deponent  further  says  that  said  Mrs.  Dubois  sent  her  money  and 
promised  her  a  home,  and  in  other  ways  induced  her  to  speak  falsely,  which 
she  deeply  regrets,  and  corrects  by  this  affidavit  now  made  by  her. 

Jane  McAllister. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  30th  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1883. 

Henry  "C.  Cooper,  M.D.,  Notary  Public  (173). 

Minnie  St.  James  Anderson  being  duly  sworn,  says  that  she  was  in  the 
care  of  Rev.  Edward  and  Mrs.  Cowley  from  about  the  year  18G6  to  Jan.  17, 
1880,  and  was  very  happy  and  healthy  when  in  their  care.  That  they  took  a 
personal  and  parental  interest  in  her;  sent  her  to  the  public  schools,  where 
she  learned  the  usual  studies;  and  in  Shepherd's  Fold,  French,  German,  in- 
strumental and  vocal  music,  also  the  use  of  the  typewriter,  and  she  wrote 
her  French  exercises  on  the  typewriter,  as  did  several  of  the  other  children. 
That  she  was  in  good  health,  and  had  been  in  good  health  for  the  previous 
five  years,  and  made  such  progress  in  her  studies  and  house  duties  as  to  earn 
her  own  living; -and  besides  her  support  in  said  Fold,  she  often  received 
presents  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowley,  and  was  always  well  clothed  and  was 
happy  with  them.  That  when  said  Jenkins  swore  this  deponent  was  not  well 
fed,  and  that  her  health  was  in  danger,  and  that  she  was  not  kindly  treated 
by  Mr.  Cowley,  he  swore  to  what  was  entirely  false,  and  she  would  have  said 
it  was  false  if  she  had  been  permitted  to  testify ;  and  that  she  never  felt  in 
better  health  nor  happier  than  when  with  said  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cowley.  That 
she  has  a  good  situation  now,  being  about  eighteen  and  a  half  years  old,  and 
has  thought  much  about  her  residence  in  said  Fold. 

Deponent  further  says  that  she  was  often  in  the  kitchen,  usually  several 
times  a  day,  when  the  meals  were  prepared ;  and  that  the  large  iron  pot  in 
which  the  dinners  for  the  Fold  children  were  cooked,  was  generally  as  full  a* 
it  could  be  for  cooking,  and  it  held  more  than  could  be  eaten  at  dinner,  and 
some  was  often  left  over.  Deponent's  duty  was  in  the  dining-room,  and  she 
knows  that  Mr.  Cowley  provided  abundant  supplies,  and  that  he  wanted  them 
to  have  enough,  and  often  inquired  if  the  children  had  enough  prepared,  and 
said  "  they  must  have  all  they  could  eat;  it  was  plain  food,  and  the  children 
should  have  all  they  wanted  "  ;  and  they  were  not  limited  to  one  or  two  sup- 
plies on  their  plates,  but  could  have  them  filled  again  and  again,  of  soups 
and  bread,  and  beans  and  rice  and  Indian  meal,  wheaten  grits,  meat  and 
potatoes,  fish  and  potatoes.  On  holidays  and  festivals  and  birthdays,  they 
had  plenty  of  roasts  and  poultry,  puddings,  pies,  fruits,  and  such  things; 
and  the  children  were  always  healthy  and  enjoyed  themselves  in  said  Fold. 
That  Louis  Victor  alone  became  sick  in  the  Fall  of  the  last  year,  1879,  and 
at  Christmas  was  taken  by  Mrs.  Cowley  to  the  Hospital.  That  he  had  always 
been  kindly  treated  in  the  Fold;  at  first  he  had  the  same  food  and  care  as 
the  other  children,  and  when  he  got  sick  the  doctors  saw  him,  ani  medi- 
cines were  given  him  very  often,  and  he  had  the  same  food  as  the  officers, 
and  other  food  was  specially  prepared  for  him,  such  as  poultry  and  eggs  and 
puddings,  and  other  nice  things,  sometimes  cake  and  blane-mange  and  fruits; 
and  great  care  was  taken  of  htm  through  the  day  up  to  bedtime,  which  depo- 
nent saw  and  knows,  and  that  he  was  well  cared  for  while  in  said  Fold,  and 
till  he  went  to  the  Hospital. 

Deponent  further  says  that  she  saw  the  large  cask  of  rice,  and  also  a 
barrel  of  rice,  in  the  Sixtieth-street  home;  it  lasted  a  long  time.  That  there 
were  several  barrels  of  supplies  in  the  store-room,  such  as  bread  and  beans, 
and  peas  and  hominy  and  Indian  meal,  wheaten  grits,  pearl  barley,  rice,  po- 
tatoes, and  molasses;  the  meats  and  milk  were  kept  in  the  refrigerator. 


17 


Fanny  McCurdy  or  the  teacher  had  the  keys,  and  they  prepared  as  much  as 
they  thought  the  children  would  eat,  and  if  any  of  them  did  not  get  enough, 
it  was  their  own  fault,  and  not  Mr.  Cowley's,  and  he  often  helped  to  serve 
the  children  at  breakfast  and  dinner. 

Deponent  further  says  that  great  care  was  taken  to  keep  the  children  and 
their  heads  clean,  and  they  were  daily  washed  and  combed  ;  they  had  a  warm 
bath  in  the  bath-tub  on  Saturdays,  when  school  did  not  keep.  That  Louis 
Victor  was  very  often  washed,  and  was  quite  comfortable  and  happy,  sin^in^ 
and  asking  the  children  to  sing.  That  about  eight  or  ten  towels  were  washed 
everyday,  and  it  was  the  rule.  That  on  Jan.  17,  1880,  the  Fold  children 
were  seized  and  taken  away  by  said  Jenkins  and  some  officers  to  Court  before 
being  bathed,  and  were  hurried  off,  and  not  allowed  to  bathe  nor  to  make 
their  usual  weekly  changes  of  underclothing.  In  the  afternoon  of  said  day 
the  Fold  children  were  put  in  the  Home  for  the  Friendless,  and  many  of  them 
did  not  like  it;  some  tried  to  run  away,  and  back  to  said  Fold.  But  said 
Jenkins  used  to  come  and  talk  to  the  children,  and  got  them  to  like  it  better; 
and  he  talked  with  Fanny  McCurdj7,  and  she  used  to  tell  over  what  she  and 
other  girls  had  said,  or  were  to  say,  in  Court  every  night  during  Mr.  Cowley's 
trial,  for  the  purpose,  as  deponent  firmly  believes,  of  instructing  and  induc- 
ing other  children  to  say  the  same  things  as  she  had  said  after  she  turned 
against  Mr.  Cowley  ;  and  that  said  Jenkins  talked  with  said  Fanny  and  with 
some  of  the  other  children,  in  order  to  get  them  to  say  things  against  said 
Cowley — things  that  were  not  true,  but  false,  and  that  said  Fanny  knew 
them  to  be  false,  and  she  laughed  aloud  when  she  repeated  some  of  the 
things  she  had  said  against  him. 

Deponent  was  then  about  fifteen  and  a  half  3rears  old ;  but  she  was  not 
permitted  to  testify  at  his  trial,  nor  to  communicate  with  him,  nor  with  Mrs. 
Cowley,  and  she  was  unable  to  communicate  with  either  of  them  from  the 
time  she  was  forcibly  taken  from  said  Fold  till  Nov.  20,  1883 — nearly  three 
years ;  and  that  it  was  through  the  kindness  of  her  employers  that  she  was 
allowed  to  see  Mr.  Cowley  even  then,  and  it  gave  her  great  pleasure  to  see 
him;  that  she  always  liked  him,  and  she  loved  Mrs.  Cowley;  they  treated 
her  as  parents  treat  their  children,  or  better.  Deponent  knows  this  by  com- 
parison, as  she  has  been  in  several  different  families  since  she  was  taken 
from  them,  and  she  never  would  have  left  them  of  her  own  accord  :  for  they 
were  kind  and  good  to  her. 

Deponent  believes  that  none  of  the  children  of  said  Fold  would  have  said 
anything  against  said  Cowley  unless  they  had  been  put  up  to  it,  and  to  say 
false  things,  by  said  Jenkins,  who  got  them  removed,  and  then  had  some  of 
them  sent  out  of  t he  State;  and  that  deponent  was  sent  to  Connecticut  for 
nearly  tvro  years,  and  could  not  communicate  with  said  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Cowley. 
And  deponent  says  that  little  Louis  Victor  very  often  ate  at  Mr.  Cowley's 
table,  and  that  he  and  other  small  children  used  to  get  cakes  and  fruits  and 
other  nice  things  from  him  every  day,  and  that  they  loved  him,  and  called 
him  Papa. 

Deponent  further  says  that  Mr.  Cowley  provided  various  books  of  enter- 
tainment and  picture-books,  and  puzzles  and  games  for  indcor  amusement; 
and  in  fine  weather  he  often  took  them  to  Central  Park,  and  the  children  ran 
about  and  played  tag  and  other  games,  such  as  ball,  croquet,  hoops,  tops, 
archery,  and  made  themselves  merry  just  like  other  children  ;  and  they  went 
to  Barnum's  and  the  Muse  am,  the  Aquarium  and  the  American  Institute, 
and  to  Sunday-school  and  church  every  Sunday,  and  several  children  sang  in 
the  choir.  In  Summer  they  went  on  excursions,  sometimes  in  carriages  and 
boats,  and  sometimes  in  large  steamers,  up  the  Hudson  and  the  East  river; 
and  Mr.  Cowley  explained  to  them  what  they  saw,  and  the  monuments  in  the 
Park,  and  about  the  men  they  commemorated  ;  and  the  children  wrote  out 
what  they  could  remember,  and  about  the  animals,  on  the  typewriter. 

Deponent  further  says  that  the  Fold  children  who  had  parents  used  to 
visit  them,  and  to  receive  visits  from  them,  and  they  always  came  hack 
happy,  and  seemed  gla  I  to  be  in  said  Fold  again,  ant!  they  enjoyed  them- 
selves there.  That  Charlie  Fox  did  not  go  to  Mrs.  McClelland 's  school  near 
Forty-ninth  street,  but  he  went  to  the  Fifty-seventh-street  grammar  school  for 


18 


several  years, 'and  that  she  herself  attended  the  female  department  of  that 
school.  And  she  remembers  that  Lizzie  Vanhagen  was'  but  a  few  weeks  in 
said  Fold,  and  had  left  itra  long  time  before  said  Jenkins  got  thn  children 
taken  away;  it  seems  nearly  a  year;  and  she  believes  that  said  McClelland 
swore  falsely  about  Charlie  Fox,  who  did  not  attend  her  school,  and  about 
Lizzie  Vanhagen,  who  had  left  the  Fold  long  before  the  other  children  were 
taken  away,  and  was  in  it  onlv  a  few  week's.  And  deponent  believes  that  she 
was  not  allowed  by  said  Jenkins  to  testify,  because  he  knew  she  would  tell 
the  truth,  and  she  has  always  said  she  would  tell  the  truth — that  Mr.  Cowley 
was  kind  and  good  to  the  Fold  chil  Iren — but  she  has  never  before  had  an 
opportunity.  Minnie  St.  James  Anderson. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  December,  1883.  * 

Francis  P.  Burke, 
Notary  Public  New  York  County  (101). 

STATEMENT  OF  REV.  EDWARD  COWLEY,  BY  REQUEST. 

Such  a  net  of  misrepresentation  has  been  woven  around  Louis  Victor  and 
myself,  that  I  give  the  following  facts  : 

From  March  1,  18G3,  to  June,  1872,  my  duty  was  at  the  City  Institutions, 
with  proper  salary,  and  residence  there  the  last  eight  years.  My  leisure  I 
gave  to  founding  the  Shepherd's  Fold  and  the  Children's  Fold,  so  providing 
a  home  and  Christian  nurture  for  children  who  fell  to  my  care,  numbering 
about  200  a  year.  To  succor  the  orphan  and  abandoned,  I  revolutionized 
public  sentiment  and  inspired  public  regard. 

From  July,  1872,  to  March,  1873,  I  was  abroad,  chiefly  to  interest  British 
Christians  in  behalf  of  British  orphans  in  New  York,  and  with  excellent  re- 
sults. In  1874  I  procured  the  passage  of  a  law  which  gave  the  Children's 
Fold  32  a  week  for  each  child  supported  therein  whose  maintenance  was  not 
provided  by  private  parties.  This  endowment  created  jealousy  and  cupidity 
in  some  not  so  privileged,  and  in  1876  the  purpose  became  manifest  to  dis- 
possess me  and  my  friends  of  the  Fold's  management.  Hence  were  circu* 
lated  stories  about  the  children,  and  that  I  had  made  a  gain  out  of  the  Fold ; 
yet  I  had  no  money  compensation  for  all  my  time  and  labor.  By  such  trick- 
ery, with  the  aid  of  a  trustee,  the  opposition  usurped  the  management. 

Then  I  took  charge  of  the  Shepherd's  Fold,  with  admirable  success,  when 
certain  parties,  to  conceal  and  consummate  other  wrongs,  caused  me  to  be 
prosecuted  for  alleged  neglect  of  Louis  Victor — one  of  seven  hundred  chil- 
dren m  my  care  from  1867  to  1880,  of  whom  only  three  had  died,  and  but  few 
were  ever  sick,  as  the  foregoing  medical  reports  certify.  None  of  them  had 
ever  complained  of  food  or  treatment,  or  their  parents  for  them.  They  are 
seven  hundred  reasons  why  little  Victor  was  not  improperly  fed  or  neglected 
by  me.  My  health  record  for  thirteen  years  had  been  unparalleled  for  ex- 
cellence, inviting  comparison  with  that  of  any  similar  institution  in  the 
State.  I  had  proved  a  friend  and  benefactor  of  New  York  orphans.  Twenty- 
one  gentlemen  sought  to  obtain  my  place,  being  twenty-one  more  reasons  in 
my  favor;  or  were  they  moved  thereto  to  get  the  disbursement  of  $2'), 000  a 
year — the  support  of  two  hundred  children  in  the  two  Folds  I  had  founded 
and  endowed  ? 

Such  are  some  of  the  reasons  not  generally  known  by  a  deceived  public 
why  I  was  accused  of  starving  Louis  Victor;  and  they  were  enough,  as 
things  go  in  New  York.    I  was  forced  to  trial  on  chnrges  which  I  never  saw, 


19 


within  a  week  of  seizure.  The  healthy  appearance  of  four-fifths  of  my  chil- 
dren proved  at  sight  that  the  indictments  touching  them  must  be  fraudulent* 
The  stupidity  or  wickedness  of  grand  jurors  was  never  more  clear.  They 
had  indicted  me  as  to  lifteen  of  the  most  robust-looking  children  of  the  city — 
as  to  fifteen  who  had  fled  to  me  for  protection,  and  who  were  as  free  to  go 
as  to  come.  But  their  late  guardians  (!)  had  "resolved  to  recover  them 
from  me."  M5*  children  were  seized  without  appearance  of  cause,  and 
transferred  by  an  ex  parte  order  to  the  prosecution  at  its  request,  and  then 
they  were  taught  to  bear  false  witness  against  me.  I  was  deprived  of  a  pre- 
liminary examination  by  a  magistrate.  I  was  indicted  not  only  without  evi- 
dence, but  against  evidence,  and  it  was  publicly  reported  that  I  was  to  be 
"railroaded  to  Sing  Sing  "  !  Since  then  Recorder  Smyth  has  charged  the 
Grand  Jury  not  to  allow  an  indictment  in  a  case  which  a  magistrate  has  not 
examined,  so  that  a  similar  outrage  shall  not  be  committed. 

Thus  with  indecent  haste  and  public  clamor,  I  was  put  on  trial  on  charges 
oppugnant  to  my  life's  record.  I  was  required  to  tell  what  part  of  food, 
attention,  and  concern  a  certain  one  of  my  twenty-five  children  had  received. 
I  was  to  divide  and  subdivide  paternal  provision  and  maternal  care.  I  was 
assumed  to  be  little  Victor's  nirse,  and  was  asked  how  often  I  nursed  him — 
gave  him  water,  carried  him  about,  placed  him  in  a  chair;  what  exactly  had 
I  given  him  to  eat;  what  precisely  had  I  done  for  him  as  distinct  from  all 
others  in  my  care !  I  thought  of  the  rule  per  alium  per  se,  and  answered 
"There  are  twenty  different  witnesses  to  be  found  and  examined — twenty 
different  accounts  to  be  collected  and  analyzed."  Yet  I  was  kept  in  prison 
by  a  bail  twenty-five  times  too  high,  in  defiance  of  the  Constitution!  But 
what  of  that  ?  The  prosecution  had  resolved  to  win.  Now  indeed  they  ask 
to  let  it  drop  !  But  I  recall  the  memory  of  Rev.  John  Ury  in  1741,  and  will 
not  be  a  willing  victim,  lest  another  be  sacrificed.  I  ask  for  correction  and 
restitution— the  Christian  rule  from  professed  Christian  people.  Let  them 
beware  of  their  own  precedents.  Even  while  investigation  by  the  Church 
was  going  on,  the  New  York  Committee  of  the  "  S.  B.  C."  censured  our  man- 
agement, perhaps  to  influence  the  judgment  of  the  Church ;  yet  no  member 
of  the  S-fate  Committee  had  visited  said  Fold,  or  conversed  with  any  of  its 
officers,  within  tico  years  /  We  remonstrated  against  such  false  report  of  our 
work  to  the  authorities  at  Albany,  and  the  Legislature  suppressed  its  publica- 
tion, though  already  in  the  hands  of  the  printer. 

If  facts  mean  anything,  those  presented  in  the  foregoing  pages  show  all 
that  the  public  need  to  disprove  the  charge  that  I  starved  or  neglected  Louis 
Victor.  They  show  that  he  had  a  kind,  competent,  and  excellent  lady  to 
<?are  for  him  as  a  mother  when  his  next  of  kin  wholly  failed.  They  set  forth 
in  detail  the  food,  the  medicine,  the  nursing  care,  the  physician,  provided 
him  in  the  Shepherd's  Fold.  I  am  to  be  judged  by  the  record  and  the  public 
standard  of  provision  in  such  cases — not  that  of  the  Fifth  avenue,  but  of 
Blackwell's  and  Randall's  Islands.  My  ten  years  at  the  City  Institutions 
enable  me  to  say  that  I  know  he  had  better  and  wiser  care  from  Mrs.  Cowley 
and  her  aids,  than  is  supplied  by  the  city.  My  health  record  is  conclusive  in 
any  fair  comparison.  Why  should  Victor  alone  fail  when  others  flourished  ? 
St.  Luke's  records  show  that  he  suffered  from  a  natural  disease  which  re- 
quired many  weeks'  treatment  to  cure.    But  the  statements  of  Dr.  Ridlon  in 


20 


Court  and  to  the  physicians,  disagreed  with  his  written  records,  for  these  ^f'ot'e 
disease.  Dr.  Hawes,  Dr.  Hamilton,  Dr.  Stephen  Smith,  and  Drs.  Jarobi  and 
Spitzka,  found  enlarged^ joints,  pigeon  breast,  curvature  of  the  spine,  dis- 
tended abdomen,  diarrhoea,  emaciation,  voracious  appetite,  present  at  differ- 
ent times  in  Louis  Victor  from  the  latter  part  of  October  to  the  following 
30th  of  January.  Each  of  these  ailments  was  a  symptom  of  rickets.  But 
rickets  or  no,  I  have  proved  a  healthful  diet,  made  richer  as  his  disease  re- 
quired*; also  an  approved  physician  of  fifteen  years'  practice  and  of  superior 
skill,  in  charge  of  him,  who  was  frequently  consulted  about  him,  who  re- 
peatedly saw  and  prescribed  for  him,  and  whose  directions  were  faithfully 
obeyed.  I  provided  him  with  as  good  nourishment,  in  all  respects,  as  is  fur- 
nished at  the  City  Institutions,  and  placed  him  in  St.  Luke's  to  be  cured  of 
his  disease,  of  which  he  was  then  getting  well.  The  swollen  joints  had 
largely  disappeared,  though  the  curvature  of  the  spine  was  seen  by  Dr.  Ham- 
ilton on  Jan.  13th.  I  teas  not 'permitted  to  see  Louis,  or  he  would  have  told 
me  about  his  wanting  meat,  while  they  gave  him  only  boiled-milk-and-salt- 
and-lime-water,  which  three  of  the  medical  experts  disapproved.  I  i  the 
Fold  Louis  had  rickets;  in  St.  Luke's  he  had  pneumonia,  then  scarlatina, 
and  then  when  sent,  cured  of  these,  to  the  country,  he  is  reported  to  have 
fallen  from  a  tree  and  broken  his  arm  !  But  by  the  mercy  of  God  he  is  vocal 
and  flourishing  now. 

I  repeat,  Louis  Victor  was  neither  starved  nor  neglected  by  me  in  the 
Shepherd's  Fold.  Of  that  I  am  not  guilty.  But  I  confess  to  defending,  when 
attacked,  my  rights,  and  those  of  my  associates,  to  the  management  of  the 
Children's  Fold  and  of  the  Shepherd's  Fold,  with  their  valuable  franchises 
and  endowments.  For  that  I  suffer ;  but  the  other  charge  is  as  false  as 
that  made  against  the  brave  Gen.  Grant  only  two  weeks  before  his  death. 
One  person  had  the  temerity  to  say  that  "the  General  feigned  his  sickness 
in  order  to  escape  exposure  in  financial  matters."  I  believe  him  innocent, 
and  I  know  I  am  innocent. 

The  premature  death  of  two  of  my  persecutors  prevented  my  exposing 
their  misconduct.  But  as  each  department  was  concerned,  I  invoked  inves- 
tigation by  the  Mayor,  by  the  Comptroller,  by  Governors  Cornell  and  Cleve- 
land, and  by  both  branches  of  the  Legislature ;  yet,  to  my  surprise  (if  any- 
thing done  by  my  opponents  could  surprise  me),  the  prosecution  agents  went 
to  Albany  imploring  that  no  investigation  touching  them  should  be  allowed  ! 
Then  I  tried  to  see  those  of  my  wards  who  had  been  tutored  to  testify  falsely, 
but  Mr.  Gerry  guarded  them  from  interview  either  by  the  Church  authorities 
or  myself  !  The  boys  Campbell  and  Fox  returned  from  their  Western  exile, 
sought  me  out,  and  gave  me  their  affidavits,  as  did  Mrs.  Stendenbach  for  her 
two  children  and  herself.  So  with  these,  and  one  from  Mrs.  Cowley  and  my- 
self, I  began  other  proceedings.  But  his  friend  put  a  copy  in  Mr.  Gerry's 
hands,  who  at  once  (Feb.  1,  1883)  moved  Recorder  Smyth  to  order  a  nolle 
prosequi  entered  against  each  remaining  indictment,  which  was  done,  and 
justified  the  Church  in  its  finding  as  to  twenty-four  out  of  twenty-five  alleged 
misdemeanors,  being  twenty-four  more  reasons  for  my  clearance  touching 
Louis  Victor. 

Those  indictments,  obtained  by  deceit  and  misrepresentation,  had  thrown 
me  into  prison  of  a  Saturday  afternoon.    Twelve  thousand  dollars'  bail  icas 


21 


demanded  because  of  them,  and  the  public  was  greatly  excited.  Yet  n<>\\ 
they  are  blown  away  with  the  breath  of  Mr.  Gerry !  If  true  on  Jan.  31,  1880, 
they  were  equally  true  Feb.  1,  1883,  and  the  prosecution  should  have  tried 
them.  But  Mr.  Gerry  prevented  that,  and  so  shielded  his  agents.  Here  is 
another  reason  to  be  considered,  and  the  records  of  St.  Luke's  disclose  an- 
other in  Dr.  Ridlon.  Perhaps  the  $20,000  annual  appropriations  to  the  Chil- 
dren's Fold  and  the  Shepherd's  Fold — $75,000  since  the  opposition  to  me 
began — furnish  another  motive  for  usurping  my  work,  and  for  refusing  to 
repay  me,  as  well  as  other  creditors,  from  moneys  received  for  the  support 
of  Fold  children.  It  is  money  to  which  they  confess  they  had  no  right,  ex- 
cept that  by  protracted  litigation  they  deprived  us  of  it.  And  they  do  it 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  State  of  New 
York  !    Is  the  Church  unable  to  correct  this  wrong  ? 

To  procure  the  privileges  and  endowments  of  those  two  Folds,  has  cost 
me  $10,000 — money  which  I  did  not  give,  and  had  no  right  to  give,  but  only 
invested.  To  deprive  me  of  it  is  little  less  than  robbery ;  yet  those  now  in 
control  refuse  to  pay  me  anything,  except  what  they  may  be  compelled  to 
pay  by  legal  process.  Therefore  I  appeal  to  the  Clergy  and  Laity  of  the 
Church  for  redress  and  reimbursement.  The  orphans  and  needy  children  of 
the  Church  I  have  provided  for  by  State  endowment,  now  to  the  number  of 
two  hundred  a  year.    May  it  not  be  at  the  sacrifice  of  their  benefactor ! 

Edward  Cowley, 

Aug.  24,  18»5.  Presbyter  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York. 

The  foregoing  digest  of  evidence,  old  and  new,  enables  the  reader  to  form 
a  truer  judgment  of  the  Victor  case  than  was  possible  for  the  Judge  and 
Jury  who  tried  it ;  and  the  precipitation  of  that  trial  explains  why  Counsel 
did  not,  because  not  permitted,  prove  these  food  supplies  in  court.  But  they 
were  proved  and  sifted  before  the  Church  Inquiry,  and  a  comparison  of  them 
was  made  with  the  food  supplies  in  similar  institutions.  The  printed  tables 
in  annual  reports  showed  that  the  city  of  New  York  fed  its  well  children  at 
a  daily  cost  of  less  than  ten  cents ;  for  all  at  Randall's  Island,  the  cost  was  a 
fraction  over  ten  cents,  for  the  blind  it  was  eight  cents,  for  the  poor  at  the 
Almshouse  it  was  seven  cents,  and  at  the  Lunatic  Asylum  it  was  twelve 
cents.  The  average  at  these  five  institutions,  therefore,  was  less  than  ten 
cents  daily  for  old  and  young.  Page  3  of  this  digest  reveals  an  average  of 
more  than  ten  cents  each  in  the  Shepherd's  Fold.  Comparison  was  also 
made  with  private  institutions  of  the  city,  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic, 
which  proved  equally  favorable  to  Mr.  Cowley.  The  Protectory  reported  the 
cost  of  each  inmate  in  1879  (Victor's  last  year  in  the  Fold)  to  have  been 
$52.77  for  food  and  clothing  for  those  larger  and  older  than  the  Fold  chil- 
dren. This  would  not  allow  of  more  or  better  food  than  was  furnished 
Louis  and  his  companions. 

Surely,  therefore,  the  Fold  children  were  not  starved.  That  Louis  Victor 
was  not  neglected  when  sick,  is  even  less  probable,  as  the  new  matter  in  this 
digest  sufficiently  proves,  showing  a  terrible  miscarriage  of  justice,  and 
illustrating  what  the  Hon.  S.  J.  Tilden  says,  that  governmental  machinery 
for  administering  justice  is  often  potent  of  evil.  The  Church  has  only  miti- 
gated that  evil  by  reversing,  so  far  as  she  could,  the  unjust  decision  of  a 
hasty  court  trial.  What  yet  remains  to  be  done  is  suggested  in  the  fore- 
going statement  and  appeal.    See  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  vii.  12. 

The  Compiler. 


Pamphlet  j 

Binder  j 

Gaylord  Bros.  Inc.  ] 

Makers  < 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.  < 

PAT.  JAN  21,  1908  j 


